A bird in the bush

[JaniceL]

I'll admit it, not the best bird shot in the world. The tail is cut off, there is a twig in the front and it's not perfect clarity.

But here is the real story behind the bird. I was scouting out a new park for me on the Tualatin River. Brown's Ferry in Tualatin. Since I still have Nina's Sigma Bigma I thought I'd bring it along.

It was late, 5:00 to be precise. I had my camera in hand, big lens and tripod. This guy looks at me like I had rocks for brains and snorted, "Kinda dark for that camera don't you think?" in that sort of you're nuts tone. Yes, it was dark, cloudy, and just finished raining. Not a bright day kind of 5:00.

So here is what I caught, not bad for the conditions.

Canon 7D, Sigma 50-100, ISO3200, f7.1, 1/10 sec, tripod and shutter release cable along with a fairly active song sparrow.

Kinda dark huh, oh yeah, who's got rocks for brains huh? Yeah buddy, I've got my 7D and I know how to use it.

 

[DeddoArts]

It's never too dark with a tripod
Nice focus on the bird, it's tough to get that through tree branches.

 

[JaniceL]

It's never too dark with a tripod

Amen to that, now if the bird would just sit still. It took several shots and one that I now wish I didn't delete the one that had two heads

 

[BobH]

It's never too dark with a tripod ...

It is when the subject is moving. Little birds tend to be, well, flighty. They twitch and jump and hop around and turn their head. I suppose that comes from the fact that large birds like eagles tend to think of little birds like that one as "crunchy snacks". So the little guy has to be constantly looking out for his own safety.

You end up having to pick a shutter speed to freeze the motion of the subject. Even if your camera is on a rock solid tripod, and you're using mirror lockup, cable release, a sandbag on the tripod and tightened things down with a torque wrench, that won't help at all with subject motion.

So, you typically crank ISO to just below "grainy with a side of noise", set your aperature to "low as she'll go" (i.e. wide open for that lens) and then see what kind of shutter speed you're left with. If there's good light, you can dial stuff back. At twilight, you often end up shooting as fast as you can, and hoping to catch the little guys between twitches.

 

[DeddoArts]

Ah yes, I forgot about movement Most of my night time endeavors have involved nice lighting on still objects.

I was just reading about using a fill flash for shady nature photos to help keep the shutter speed faster, though I imagine one flash would scare off most wildlife.

 

[JaniceL]

I imagine one flash would scare off most wildlife.

I used to take many more bird photos than I used to. I shot from a window blind in a bathroom in my house and used an extension on my flash to magnify and concentrate the flash. The actually were fine with it as long as it was not too dark.

 

[BobH]

Ah yes, I forgot about movement Most of my night time endeavors have involved nice lighting on still objects.

Shots like this one? Yes, buildings do really well at holding perfectly still (except maybe in LA). But little birds aren't so good at "Hold that pose!"

View attachment 5429

 

[DeddoArts]

Exactly, buildings... lamps... the moon (relatively speaking - the exposure can be short enough to keep it from showing movement)

That looks almost like you were standing on I-90

 

[BobH]

That looks almost like you were standing on I-90

Well, I pretty much was, I was on the bridge over it.

 

[squirl033]

the Bigma is a darned good lens... only thing it lacks is IS, IMHO, to be the near perfect all-round telezoom. it sure worked for you on this little song sparrow.. especially considering the lighting. of course, with the 7D and ISO at 3200, you do have a bit more leeway for dusk shooting! nicely done!

 

[JaniceL]

the Bigma is a darned good lens... only thing it lacks is IS, IMHO, to be the near perfect all-round telezoom. it sure worked for you on this little song sparrow.. especially considering the lighting. of course, with the 7D and ISO at 3200, you do have a bit more leeway for dusk shooting! nicely done!

I'm pretty impressed with the lens. I believe the new ones has IS or in their terms OS. But it is one heavy lens, at least in comparison to the 100-400 Canon.

 

[Julie]

Well I think it's lovely. I need to start bringing my camera with me to work for when I have slow days and have time to use it. You were right in my neck of the woods, I work right in Tualatin.

 

[JaniceL]

Thank you Julie, I really never explored Tualatin past the National Wildlife refuge. There are some great places for photographing birds and wildlife.

I too need to carry my camera with me more often too.